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butterfly farming

Did you ever wonder where the butterflies from butterfly houses and butterfly gardens come from? A small group of farmers dedicate their efforts to raising them for conservatories, weddings, anniversaries and many other special events. The large exotic butterflies are usually imported from tropical climates, but the monarchs can be very successfully bred here. What you need is a greenhouse or a screened room full of milkweed plants, a few female butterflies and a lot of dedication.

Here is a wonderful resource detailing all the aspects of butterfly farming, if you want to know more or consider giving this endeavor a try.

Since we are on the topic of breeding butterflies and moths, here is something that you need to see: scientists in Singapore developed a method through which silk worms produce brightly colored fluorescent silk. The method consists of feeding silk worms a mixture of mulberry leaves (their staple diet) and fluorescent dye. This is a potential breakthrough for the textile as well as the medical supplies industries: brightly colored silk that requires no additional chemical dyeing process is not the only application of this technology. Through the same method one can obtain fabrics that have anticoagulant, antibacterial or anti-inflammatory properties.  Just take a look at the ColourLOVER’s blog.

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